When Rue says Africans are loud, the poem explains why: “We are loud because we want our voices to be heard.” This is not volume without meaning. It is survival against disappearance. It is the refusal to let African voices sink beneath stories written by people who benefited from their silence. Then comes the line at the center of the poem: “No, I do not have an accent. An accent means you’re not speaking the way you’re supposed to. But this voice is rightfully mine.” That voice carries family, ancestry, sacred harmony, and a history colonialism tried to remove. Rue is not asking permission to belong inside the language. Rue is reclaiming the authority to speak it without being treated as an exception. “Bicycles” is funny until it is exhausting. Because beneath every ridiculous question is the burden placed on African people to repeatedly prove their humanity, modernity, intelligence, and existence to people who could have chosen to learn before asking them to explain. Rue closes the lesson exactly where it belongs: “I am tired of carrying the burden of your ignorance. So next time you have a question, just Google it.” Credit: Button Poetry Poet: Rue Musharu Poem: “Bicycles” KMOB1003 Spoken Word · KMOB1003 Global signal 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐌𝐎𝐁𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟑 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 — 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐊𝐌𝐎𝐁𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟑 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 — 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥. Artist / rights holder: message us for credit updates or removal. #Poetry #PoetryTok #SpokenWord #SlamPoetry #PoetTok #BlackPoets #AfricanPoetry #PoetryCommunity #RueMusharu #Bicycles #ButtonPoetry #AfricanVoices #AfricanHistory #Accent #Colonialism #CulturalIdentity #DiasporaVoices #Decolonize #History #SpokenWordPoetry #KMOB1003 #KMOB1003Global - @kmob1003.global